Hurting Stars
by Fangrl10101
Summary: I'm really bad at these description thingies. It's basically lots of pining. It's Altean Prince Lance and Bodyguard Keith. Lots of angst. Lots of love. Lots of hate. So sorry to my baby blue boy in advance. I'm gonna hate myself for writing that one part. You'll understand soon enough. Just give it a chance. I promise lots of action. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

Notes from the author: Hi everyone! This is my new fic so hope you all like it. Just so you all know there might be a few mistakes. I tried fixing it best I could.

Also Important: When it has the one apostrophe, it means that's what they're thinking ok? Ex: 'hello beautiful'

(no that's not part of the story. Sorry to disappoint :p) but you get the image, right? Well, that's all. Hope you like it loves! I'll try my hardest not to procrastinate on this one haha

ALSO, I MIGHT CHANGE THE NAME OF THE STORY SO JUST BE PREPARED IF THAT HAPPENS!

Prologue

"King Alfor wants to see you."

"Right now?" Shiro asked, never really one to question the King's decision but he was on duty right now. King Alfor never called him when he was on duty.

"Yes. He's in the throne room waiting for you. I'll guard the Princess for now," the guard told him as he moved to take Shiro's place in front of the door.

Shiro nodded and went on his way.

'Wonder what King Alfor wants. Probably for the bodyguard situation.'

With all the twists and turns, the castle was more of a maze than a fortress. One could easily get lost within its walls if one was not trained beforehand. But of course, all servants, guards, and everyone else who lived behind its walls knew the castle like the back of their hand. Whenever any balls or festivities were thrown inside the castle, signs needed to be put in advance to lead the way.

Not that Shiro was complaining. It put his always-on-edge heart to rest somewhat and made being a bodyguard a bit easier.

Finally, Shiro reached the great white and gold doors which led to the throne room. When he opened the door, King Alfor was sitting on the throne.

"Ah, Shiro come in. Come in," King Alfor gestured for Shiro to come forward.

"You wanted to see me?" Shiro asked, obeying the King's gestures.

"Yes. I know you're on duty right now but it is a matter of importance. We need to find a new bodyguard for my son as soon as possible. And a good one too. These guards don't know how to handle him," he said, chuckling. "He is just as reckless as I was in my youth. Do you think you could find him a younger bodyguard? I figured maybe he wouldn't be as reckless if he had a bodyguard around his age who he could talk to. Not that he doesn't have friends but it's still worth a try."

Shiro smiled, knowing exactly who he was going to choose. "Yes. And I think I know a person who's right for the job."

King Alfor raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed. "Already? Is he young?"

Shiro nodded. "I believe they're the same age and he's top in his class. His name is Keith. The only thing is, he's… not quite good with making friends. And he also has a… tragic past."

"Ah, yes. I've heard of this Keith. If I heard correctly, you were the one who found him the day of the tragedy."

"Yes, I did."

King Alfor shook his head, sadly. "Poor boy. And he doesn't have any trauma at all?"

"No, sir. He's perfectly healthy and normal. He is a bit stubborn at times though. It's hard to get through to him," Shiro said.

"Maybe this is a good thing, considering Lance has his past troubles as well. Maybe they'll get along well. I'll call for him immediately."

King Alfor started to get up but Shiro interrupted him. "Your majesty, if you don't mind, would you allow me to bring him? As I said, he's quite stubborn and may need a bit of convincing. I am the only one who he's close to."

King Alfor took a moment to process this and nodded his head. "Of course. I will place another guard in your place until you return. How many days do you think you'll be gone?"

"Oh at the most two. He's currently residing with the Garrison Guard Force so he's not far from here."

"Very well. You can depart whenever you are ready."

Shiro bowed and left the room.

As soon as King Alfor knew Shiro was out of earshot, he spoke. "How long have you been there?"

A long and slender dark-skinned boy opened the secret compartment that was hidden behind the curtain. "How did you know I was there?"

"You always move the curtain too much. How much did you hear?" King Alfor asked.

Lance shrugged. "Mostly just the end of it. What's the deal with the new guy? What kind of tragic past did he have?"

King Alfor paused, considering if he should tell the boy. But he quickly shook his head. "No, it isn't your place to know."

Lance pouted. "Fine. Then I'll be even more reckless with him around."

King Alfor laughed. "Then you'll never have a chance to get to know his story."

He quickly turned serious. "But please try to get along with him. He does have a rough past. Don't ask about it. If it comes up and he wants to tell you, then he'll tell you but do not pry."

This made Lance even more curious. Whenever someone told him he couldn't do something, he usually did it anyway.

King Alfor knew this and looked straight into his son's blue eyes. "I'm serious about this Lance."

Lance sighed and dropped his head in defeat. "Alright. I'll try to get along with him. But I'm not making any promises!"

He walked out of the room and walked towards his own room.

'Still, I wonder what happened to him. Sounds pretty serious to me. What was his name? Keith? He's probably gonna be just like every other guard. Nothing special.'

Nevertheless, the name of his soon-to-be guard tugged at his memory and Lance strained to remember where he had heard it before. He felt as if it was an important name. One that shouldn't have been forgotten but had been. Remembering nothing, he entered his room, troubled.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Keith wiped the sweat off his face with a small towel, having barely just finished training.

'Can't these guards ever learn? They always repeat the same moves,' he thought, annoyed.

Keith had a different way of doing things when fighting. He liked to throw in a new technique every now and then and leave the guards guessing about his next move. He didn't like being predictable.

"Keith?"

Keith turned his head into the direction of the voice that had called to him and froze.

"Shiro?!"

Shiro smiled and walked towards Keith. "Hello, Keith."

"Shiro!" Keith lunged forward and grabbed the older man for a hug.

Had this been anyone else, Keith would have never thought about doing such a thing but he'd grown very fond of Shiro. They'd been together since he was just a little boy. Ever since that day when Shiro had saved him…

Keith quickly turned his thoughts away from that day. He never lingered on the thought for too long else he would start to feel angry. And Keith didn't like his emotions to get in the way of his training.

"Why are you here?" Keith asked, breathing in Shiro's familiar scent. It was the only smell that reminded Keith of home had once felt. But that was gone. Shiro was now Keith's home. And Keith would do anything to protect him.

Keith let go and took a step back, inspecting Shiro. "You aren't hurt are you?"

Shiro acted like he was inspecting his robotic arm. "Well if we're serious I think something's wrong with my right arm."

Keith laughed which was another thing nobody else could do. "Must be rusty. I'm glad you're here. I haven't seen you for awhile."

Shiro nodded grimly. "I know. I'm sorry about that but it's difficult to get a break. Especially because I am the princess' bodyguard."

"Yeah, I know. So how is the princess?" Keith raised his eyebrows at him in a teasing way. "Is she still as beautiful as you say she is?"

Keith had never seen Princess Allura although he had heard how beautiful she was. Everyone knew that even if they had never seen her. It was also said that her brother, Prince Lance, was just as handsome.

Shiro blushed. "Um, er, well yes?"

He blushed even more and Keith laughed. "Still head over heels for her I see. You have got it bad."

Shiro had had a crush on that girl since the first time he'd laid eyes on her. Although he was very good at keeping it a secret, he'd once let it slip that he thought she was beautiful. Keith teased him for it ever since.

Shiro rolled his eyes but grinned. "Well, then what about you? Meet anyone?"

Keith shook his head. "Are you kidding? You know I don't do relationships. That's not my thing."

"You won't be saying that when you find yourself head over heels for someone yourself. Don't worry about it. You'll find someone. Plenty of guys out there," Shiro said and Keith looked around, making sure nobody heard.

"Could you not? I'm not trying to find anyone," he answered.

Shiro sighed. "You know nobody would care if you're gay right?"

Keith shushed him. "I know but it's nobody's business. If I want them to know, I'll let them know. Otherwise, it's just between you and me."

Shiro shrugged. "Whatever you want. Let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry."

Keith nodded, surprised to feel his own stomach growl with hunger at the mention of food.

*****

"So, why are you here?" Keith asked, grabbing a piece of bread that was in a container in the center of the table.

They'd gone out to the town square to eat lunch. Keith had had to change before they went. He didn't want everyone around him to wonder where that stench of sweat was coming from. He had changed into some regular clothes. A white shirt and brown pants. He also hadn't wanted to stand out in his uniform. Usually, people would walk up to him and thank him for his service but he didn't want that today.

Today it was just him and Shiro.

Shiro understood this and had also changed into his regular clothes. "Well, it's about a new bodyguard for the prince…"

"Uh huh? What about it? Do you want me to recommend you a new guy?" Keith inquired, looking around at the scenery.

Wherever you went, there was always a sight to behold on Altea. The flowers were always glowing and changing colors. The smells that wafted out of the bakery were pure heaven and the people were always kind. The sky was always a violet color around this time of year. Keith had been told many times that his eyes were the same color as the sky.

"Well… the thing… I want you to be the new guy," Shiro paused, waiting for a reaction.

Keith sighed. "Shiro, I told you before. I don't want to be a bodyguard for just one person. I want to help everyone. I want to help these people."

Keith gestured around them. "These people need me. I don't want to protect some bratty spoiled rich kid! He probably just wants to use me as one of his servants!"

"I understand you want to protect everyone and that is why I have asked you to become the prince's bodyguard. Don't you see? This "bratty spoiled rich kid" that you speak of could be our king one day! There king. Sure, Allura's in line for the throne but what if she doesn't have kids? Lance would be our king! And if that happens and he ends up being killed or something, it will be your fault" Shiro responded.

"Why would it be my fault if I wouldn't be the one guarding him in the first place?" Keith asked, confused.

"Exactly. He would have died because you weren't his bodyguard. No one is as good as you except me but only because I'm older," Shiro explained. "Besides, how do you know he's as terrible as you say he is? You've never met him! He doesn't seem bad…"

"I've never met him but I've heard that he's a womanizer and prideful," Keith pointed out. "And why did you have to give such a complicated explanation. My brain hurt from just listening to it."

Shiro laughed. "Sorry but it's true. And anyway you heard he's a womanizer and prideful. That doesn't mean that he really is. Listen to me. I've actually talked to him a couple times. Sure he likes to brag a bit but he's nice. And why wouldn't he be? His father and his sister both love him a lot," Shiro argued. "But if he does act like they say he does then maybe you could… steer him in the right direction."

"And how would I do that?" Keith said, grabbing his third piece of bread. They were good.

"I don't know. Show him the poor people of Altea who don't have a home. You could open up to him. Befriend him or… tell him your story," Shiro looked hopefully.

Keith flinched at the last part. He didn't like it when Shiro brought up the past. He absolutely despised all mentions of it.

"Why would I tell him "my story" for? How would I even bring that up? Just be like, "Oh hey, wanna hear a super depressing story of my past?" Why would he even want to know? Why would he want to befriend me?!"

Shiro raised his hands up in a cool-down-Keith gesture. "Keith, lower your voice please."

Keith realized the people at the other tables staring at him and that he had practically leaned over the table in his frustration. He slumped back down and crossed his arms. "Shiro… I don't want to be his friend. Or his bodyguard. Tell me one good reason and maybe I'll go."

He waited, staring at Shiro who was obviously trying to come up with one. After a few seconds, Shiro sighed and looked back at Keith. He shrugged and gave a sheepish smile.

"You'd get to see me more often?"


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I hate you so much."

"Aw, you don't mean that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here right now," Shiro teased, chuckling. "You love me, remember? I'm your big brother you said."

"Hmph. That was before. Besides you are," Keith crossed his arms, blushing.

Shiro elbowed him gently. "I love you too."

He let out a burst of laughter when he saw Keith was blushing even more. Keith had never been good with talking about his feelings.

They were waiting in the throne room for his soon-to-be-a-royal-pain-in-his-ass to come. Keith still couldn't believe Shiro had managed to get him to come. He had grumbled about the prince all the way here while Shiro tried to cheer him up.

And now he had to wear this super itchy bodysuit. It was black and went from his neck to his ankles. And he'd been scratching ever since. Of course he couldn't complain because at least they'd let him keep his knife. He would've fought them if they hadn't.

"I'm sorry about the delay but he never listens to anybody. It's a struggle for me to get him to listen," King Alfor laughed. "Yes, you'll have your hands full with him, Keith."

Keith glared at Shiro who acted like Keith wasn't secretly killing him inside his mind.

"I wonder whose fault that is," Keith whispered through gritted teeth.

"But I do sincerely hope that you two will become friends. He's a chatterbox so it won't be too hard to strike up a conversation," King Alfor continued. "Ah, here he is. You scoundrel, you're late to meet your new bodyguard!"

Keith wiped the pained expression off his face and took a deep breath. Here we go then I guess.

He turned to face the prince and was stunned by what he saw. 'Encal?! No, his hair is different. But… it looks just like him! Who… Who is this?'

But of course, Keith already knew exactly who it was.

The prince.

Prince Lance.

The one whom he was to protect.

But… he looked exactly like Encal. How could that be?

They had the same face and the only difference was Prince Lance had white hair while Encal had brown hair and he had his blue markings. Encal had gold ones. And his eyes… those perfectly ocean blue beautiful eyes. No. This was not Encal. This was the prince. They were two separate people although they practically looked the same.

Still. It's resemblance was remarkable…

Prince Lance was a dark-skinned boy around the same age as Keith. His white hair cut short and Keith couldn't help but notice how long his legs were.

Keith thought Prince Lance looked shocked. But then he recomposed himself.

This was the first sign.

If he recognized Keith then most likely it was from the orphanage and that would mean he was pretending to be Encal the entire time.

'But that can't be,' Keith thought. 'Why would a prince be at an orphanage in the first place?'

The second sign was the most important sign.

Prince Lance smirked. And it was no ordinary smirk. It was the smirk. The smirk that Keith had never forgotten no matter how hard he had tried. Because Encal had the same smirk and Keith had never forgotten him… And now, Encal and Lance were the same person.

'Oh quiznak. It's him. What the quiznak is going on here? He's the prince?!'

Shiro gave a quiet chuckle. "Who's head over heels now?"

Keith was just about to open his mouth to argue that he was not in love with Prince Lance although he had to admit he was beautifully handsome when Prince Lance walked over with the smirk still on his face.

"Hello, Keith," he said, emphasizing Keith's name. He put out his hand for Keith to take.

Keith grabbed it and they shook. Keith made sure he had on a i-just-met-you-for-the-first-time-so-let's-get-to-know-each-other-by-shaking-hands-first face. "Hello. Very nice to meet you."

Prince Lance frowned, obviously wanting a different reaction but Keith wasn't going to give it to him.  
"Well, um, I- It's a pleasure to meet you too," he said, a confused look on his face.

All of them turned when King Alfor cleared his throat. "Well then, I'm glad you could accept the job Keith. I know it was short notice but I'd rather not leave Lance unguarded. Especially since we'll be having the annual ball in three days. I'm so busy right now."

Keith did notice the bags under King Alfor's eyes. And it was true that he was rather busy for Keith had seen all the servants hustling about with large bouquets of flowers and dishes stacked up to their chins.

King Alfor looked at Lance and shook his head. "Heaven knows we don't need to have him running around wherever he likes right now."

Lance gave him a sly smile and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just a curious person."

"Too curious." The king gave him a stern look but then smiled. "Although it was your curiosity that helped us to find out about your guard being a thief. So I guess I'll have to keep you around."

Prince Lance laughed and Keith couldn't help but notice the way his laughter seemed to light up the room. Everyone but Keith was smiling.

"Alright now run along you two. I have business to attend to. Shiro you may go back on duty now."

Shiro and Keith bowed and Keith was surprised that Prince Lance hadn't done so as well. He looked up to see Prince Lance already walking towards the door.

"I'll see you later," Shiro said and Keith nodded and started to walk towards the prince.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lance couldn't believe his eyes when he saw it was Keith. At first Lance thought his eyes were playing tricks on him but they weren't. Keith was here. In the flesh. His bodyguard. And that meant he had to obey Lance.

But when Lance had gone up to him, Keith didn't give any signal that he remembered him.

'He forgot me? I mean, I did look a bit different with my dyed hair and my fake gold markings but come on! I look the same! I just got taller is all! How could he forget me? How dare he forget my face!'

"Why didn't you bow before you left?"

Lance turned to look behind him at Keith. "What?"

"Why didn't you bow before you left?" he repeated.

"Oh well, I never do," Lance said, wanting to yell at him for forgetting his face but he pulled it down. "He doesn't want me to. He told me once that family was before royalty and that nobody bowed down to their dad. So I don't."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence and Lance was just about to turn around again when his anger let loose.

"Do you really not remember me?!"

Keith looked stunned at the sudden outburst. "Remember you from where?"

"From the orphanage! I used to visit every day! But my hair was brown and I called myself Encal!" Lance explained, annoyed. "We were rivals! I was always competing with you!"

Keith took a moment to ponder this and soon shook his head.

"No," he said, slowly. "I've never met you before. I did go to an orphanage when I was younger but I don't remember anyone named Encal."

Lance's heart went down. 'What now? He doesn't remember me. And here I was thinking that we would compete and be rivals once again. Hmph. Doesn't matter. I'll still make him compete with me… somehow.'

"Well maybe it was just someone who looked like you," Lance said, acting like it was no big deal even though it was. He'd just lost his biggest rival but no matter. Lance would make sure they were rivals again and this time he would win.

*****

After being locked up in his room sulking over the fact that he'd been forgotten so easily, he decided to go visit his friends.

He walked out and saw Keith standing by the door looking alert. Lance almost laughed at how serious he looked but he restrained to do so.

"Do you always look so serious?" he asked him as he walked out of his room.

Keith turned to look at him and shrugged. "I guess."

Lance waited for him to continue the conversation but Keith made no action to do so. Lance sighed and walked on down the hall.

They walked on in silence but Lance wasn't too fond of silence so he tried to make Keith talk.

"I saw you talking to Shiro. Are you close with him?" he asked, taking a right turn at the end of the hallway.

"Yeah."

Lance waited but after a couple of seconds rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING UP THE CONVERSATION!'

All of Lance's bodyguards were talkative especially the one before Keith. Lance had been disappointed to find him trying to steal one of his sister's bracelets. But it was for the best. He'd been let go with no prison sentence. At least his father had been kind enough to do Lance that favor.

Lance cleared his throat before continuing. "So, how do you two know each other?"

A pause. "He saved me."

Lance almost stopped walking but he continued in the direction of the technician lab. Before he could remind himself that he wasn't supposed to be prying he said, "Saved you from what?"

Another pause and this time, Lance thought he wouldn't say anything until he heard him say, "From death."  
This time Lance did stop and he turned around to look at Keith who was staring at the ground, looking sad.

'Oh quiznak. I took it too far, didn't I? Why oh why do I always have to mess things up? We just met and already I went and turned him emo.'

Lance was at a loss for words. This was something that didn't happen to often. He was just about to say something when someone bumped into Lance's back. Lance practically fell onto Keith but he caught himself.

"Hey! Can you not stand in the middle of the- Oh it's you. No wonder. Could you move your royal behind outta my way?"

Lance turned around to see a small girl with big brown eyes behind glasses looking up at him, looking very much annoyed. She had a thick book in her hand.

"Insolent girl, how dare you! I'll have your head for that," Lance said, pointing his finger at her. "Guard, seize this girl."

Keith moved to do so but Lance stopped him, struggling not to laugh. "I'm kidding."

Keith blushed, embarrassed and Lance thought he looked cute. He almost looked like a regular teenage boy had it not been for his black uniform. He looked very uncomfortable and had been scratching himself for awhile. Those suits had a famous past for their itchiness. But they got used to it afterwards.

"Who's this? Your new bodyguard?" Pidge asked, inspecting Keith up and down.

"Yeah. Pidge this is Keith. Keith this is Katie," Lance introduced, gesturing from one to the other.

Keith looked confused when Lance called Pidge Katie but shook her hand anyways. "Your name is Pidge-Katie?"

Pidge laughed. "Pidge is my alias. Katie's my real name but everyone calls me Pidge."

Keith nodded. "You're Prince Lance's friend?"

Pidge laughed. "Prince Lance? You can drop the formalities around him. He's too much of a goofball to be called Prince Lance."

"Hey!" Lance exclaimed, putting his hand on her forehead to push her away. "You're the one called Pidge. That's a name for a bird although I can see why anyone could mistake a small midget like you for a bird."

"I'm not a midget! You're just a tree is all!" she said, trying to punch him but Lance just held her away at arm's length.

Finally she gave up and threw her book at him. It him square on the stomach and Keith had to grab him before he hit the floor. Lance wheezed and gasped for breathe.

"T-Thanks Keith," Lance said through gasps. "Holy quiznak Pidge! I could've died!"

Pidge shrugged. "Well then don't mess with this bird."

She grabbed her book and continued on her journey, waving her middle finger at Lance as a goodbye.

Lance chuckled. "Sassy bird."

"Are you okay?" Keith asked, looking at Lance concerned.

Lance smiled. "Oh yeah. That was nothing. We used to fight all the time when we were little. I was always black and blue."

Keith smiled and Lance pounced on him. Keith, surprised, almost punched him out of reflex.

"The boy can smile! You look waaay better when you're smiling. I bet if you smiled more, the girls would be all over you," Lance complemented and grinned when Keith blushed.

"T- thanks?" Keith looked away, desperately trying to cover his red face.

Lance decided he liked this Keith. Even if he didn't remember him from the orphanage, the bastard.

"Let's go meet my other friend," Lance announced and they walked off in the other direction.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'What is wrong with me? I feel like a little girl, blushing all the time.'

So far Keith had blushed twice in 20 minutes. Before Keith got here, he hadn't blushed in years.

First he thought that Prince Lance really had meant what he said about seizing Pidge because Keith hadn't known that she was only talking to him like that because Pidge and Prince Lance were good friends.

Then, Lance had complimented him about his smile which even Keith was surprised about. Usually Shiro was the only one who could get him to smile.

Maybe it was because Prince Lance was so friendly or the way he tried to make Keith talk even though Keith was very antisocial when meeting people for the first time. And honestly, he had tried but nothing came to his mind. It was blank so when Lance said something he barely even managed to say a couple of words at all.

Keith sighed. I'm hopeless when it comes to making friends. Well I don't need friends. I have Shiro and he's all I need.

Although, if he was honest, Keith really did like Prince Lance. He wasn't at all snobby like Keith thought he would be… or maybe it had been the fact that Keith had said he didn't remember him.

Keith almost took back what he said about not remembering when he saw Prince Lance's face. Keith could tell he felt hurt and there was also something else but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was something going on with that boy and Keith didn't think it was something pleasant. It was probably something that Prince Lance most likely kept to himself.

Keith still felt horrible about lying but when he saw the smirk, he knew that if he had said he remembered then he would have been putting up with those stupid competitions that Encal used to make up.

Keith smiled, remembering how every time Keith won, which was most of the time, Encal would be super angry and say that he cheated even though they both had known Keith hadn't. And when Encal had finally won some stupid let's-see-who-can-find-more-worms challenge, he'd puffed up his chest and walked around the orphanage, flirting with all the girls that came in his path and bragging to the boys that he'd finally won.

Of course, nobody believed him at first because of how many times Encal had lost before and Keith had had to tell them it was true.

'How did he even get me to do those challenges?'

Keith never did know why he'd accepted the very first challenge but he had and Encal had been super excited.

Maybe it was because Keith had had nothing else to do. Nobody would ever talk to him since Keith was always quiet when they talked to him.

Thus, his year of isolation before Encal had showed up for a visit. Encal talked to everyone. Literally, the guy never shut up. And Keith had been surprised when he started talking to Keith, talking about why Keith was all i'm-tougher-than-you-so-don't-talk-to-me.

Keith had said he didn't think he was tough and Encal had pounced on the fact that Keith had even spoken a word. From then on, Encal and Keith would talk everyday. Mostly Keith was just listening though. And Encal never stopped talking. Unfortunately for everyone sleeping with him, not even at night.

Then one day, Encal said they needed to see who was better and had made up a random challenge to see who was.

'Actually, now that I think about it… his sister was there too.'

"Keith!"

Keith looked up and almost ran into Prince Lance.

Prince Lance looked at him curiously and pointed to his face, grinning. "I see you took my advice."

Keith just looked at him. 'What's he talking about?'

"Don't act like you don't know," Prince Lance said, even though Keith really did have no idea. "I saw you smiling behind my back. Trying to be sneaky. Not that I don't want you smiling but what were you smiling about?"

Keith scrambled around in his empty brain, trying to find something to use as an excuse. "Uh, you?"

'WOw great excuse.'

Prince Lance frowned. "What?"

"I- I mean you said earlier that you called yourself Encal right?" Keith fixed, scratching his neck.

Keith remembered all the kids had called him "Uncle" after Keith had pronounced it wrong. Encal had been mad at Keith for an hour. He never stayed mad long. Afterwards he would just walk up to Keith and strike up a conversation acting like nothing had happened.

"Yeah. What about it?" Prince Lance asked, looking at Keith hopefully. "Do you remember me now?"

"Uh no."

'Yes.'

"I was just wondering how you came up with that kind of name," Keith said, because it was true. What kind of name is Encal?

"Oh. It's my name spelled backwards," Prince Lance pointed out, seeming pleased with himself but Keith could still see his disappointment and it was making him feel guilty. Maybe he should confess. "I couldn't come up with a name to call myself so I just flipped it."

Keith thought about it for a second. "Wouldn't it be "Ecnal" then?"

Prince Lance looked at him surprised. "What? Of course not! It's Encal!"

Keith shook his head and said slowly, "No. It would be Ecnal."

Prince Lance shook his head. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You dense?"

Anger flared up inside of Keith. 'What's this guy's problem? It's not even that important. Who's he to call me dense when he can't even flip his own name backwards?'

Keith calmed himself before continuing. "If you don't believe me, write it down then. We'll see who's right."

Prince Lance put a finger to Keith's chest and glared at him. "You challenging me mullet?"

'What the quiznak is wrong with him?! I didn't even do anything! Mullet?'

"What? No, I- I was just-"

"Don't "What? No, I- I was just-" me! You've been wanting to challenge me ever since you laid eyes on me!" he accused, pushing his finger into Keith's chest. "And this is just your way of saying I'm stupid. I'll show you!"

He stormed off before Keith could explain that he was definitely not trying to challenge him or call him stupid.

'I take back what I said before. He is as snobby as I thought he was. Not to mention crazy,' Keith thought as he watched Prince Lance walk away before remembering that he was supposed to be guarding him and ran after him.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Wait!" Keith called, catching up with Prince Lance in no time.

"What?" Prince Lance asked, glaring at him.

He really gets worked up about these things. Weird.

"Um- I, uh, I'm s-sorry?" Keith stuttered, not really sure if he should be apologizing for something that he hadn't done.

"Why does it sound like a question? You asking me or telling me?" Prince Lance inquired, crossing his arms.

Anger flared through Keith yet again and this time, he didn't hold it back. "What's your problem?! I didn't even do anything and you're acting like I just tore up your teddy bear!"

Prince Lance was stunned.

He's probably never had someone fight back. 'Well, if I'm gonna have to put up with him, we're gonna have to make a few changes.'

After a few seconds, his face turned into one a pure rage. "What?! My problem?! You're the one who thinks you're better than me!"

"I do not!"

"Yes you do! And for your information I do not have a teddy bear. I'm not a baby!" Prince Lance shouted, getting up in Keith's face.

"Well you sure are acting like a big one!" Keith yelled back, getting up in Prince Lance's face as well.

"You know what?! Shut your quiznak!"

"You're not using that word right!"

"Well that's how I use the word!"

"Well I can definitely tell you that I am feeling the sexual tension in the here."

Keith and Prince Lance turned their heads to find Pidge, reading her book and not even glancing up at the two.

"WHAT?!" Keith and Prince Lance both yelled at the same time.

"You think that I like him?!" Prince Lance shouted at her.

"Not a chance!" Keith argued.

"I HATE him!" Prince Lance added, glaring at Keith and turning his back to him.

"I hate you too!" Keith said, turning his back on Prince Lance as well.

"I ship it," Pidge said, finally looking up at the pair as she pushed her glasses up. The light bounced off them so it made it seem like her glasses were white and the smile on her face was mischievous.

Prince Lance's face turned red while Keith asked, "You what? What do you mean you "ship it"? What does that mean?"

Prince Lance turned to Keith. "It means nothing! Pidge, you're a horrible little gremlin. Weren't you going the opposite direction anyways?!"

"Well I was but then I forgot that I told Matt that I was going to help him with the new equipment he's making."

Lance sighed loudly. "I hate the lot of you."

He turned and walked away from them, grumbling something under his breath.

"Love you too Lance!" Pidge yelled at him. She snickered. "Moron."

Keith turned to Pidge. "Is he always like this?"

"Only around this time of month," Pidge answered, laughing. "Now go get him."

Keith smiled and went after the angry prince.


End file.
